All wrong! #1 is being hands on and able to build things yourself. Carpentry, machining, welding, etc. you need to be able to make things yourself before you can design and instruct others how to manufacture something. #2 is practical knowledge. You need to be able to make design decisions that are practical and realistic in the real world. Neither of these skills are taught in university which is why it is so rare to find a well rounded engineer with hands on and technical skills.
@@SuzukiKid400 I agree, part of me going back to college to pursue my ME degree is because I work in the Diesel Industry, typically on Mining, Forestry, and Construction equipment. And you'd be incredibly surprised how rare it is to find an engineer who followed these steps. I'm planning on working at my current full-time job all throughout college, and perhaps even after I graduate.
@@camd4648 similar situation right here! I work in waste water treatment and am about to pursue an ME degree on the company's dime! After I graduate, I will be hired on as a full time, dedicated engineer. Feels like a secure path that many people could take advantage of if they work for larger companies
When I went to university in Germany most professors told us how big of an accomplishment it is to get your Bachelor degree done in 6 semesters (only 5% of students manage to do this and the rest needs more time because they fail courses). So I went to an interview and was confident about my achievements and mentioned that I am a hard working and successfull student and you know what: The boss interrupted me because it was not important for him. All he wanted to know about is in which projects I participated. This was an eye opener for me. So in university we kind of lived in a bubble that did not match reality. Go out in the industry, speak with the persons in companies that hire engineers and ask them what is importend to get a job and not your professors. Most of them never left university and had a "real" job.
As a professor I agree that your professor in Germany gave you terrible advice. I tell my students that grades are 'kind of' important but not as much as they likely think they are. Hiring managers don't really care that much if you are a B or a B+ or even an A student. They may not care if you are a C student. But at most your grades will get you an interview. They won't get you a job. I recommend to my students that when they go into an interview have three group engineering projects you were involved in that you can talk about. (No more, no less) Be prepared to talk about what specifically you worked on in the project, what you added to the team, and how were conflicts within the team resolved. Also be prepared to discuss how compromises were made between competing requirements. The interviewer will be looking for several things: 1) How excited are you when you talk about the project? Do you come across as enjoying problem solving and being an engineer? 2) How well did you work as a team? 3) How well do you communicate the requirements and issues that arose for the project to someone who was not directly involved with the project? Do you tailor the level of technical jargon you use appropriately to your audience? The program I teach for is very project oriented. Particularly during the senior year. We try to make sure that even if a student only participates in their required senior capstone project and class projects that they will save projects to discuss in an interview. But I also tell students that if they need to make a choice between being a straight A student, or joining the Engineering Club and being a B- student because of the loss of in class academic focus, join the engineering club.
Yes you live in a bubble if you only listened to your university teachers - but to be fair they didn’t know better because they never really did „real“ work. Everyone after graduation who worked a few years will tell you how naiv he has been and every new student is.
@@stevenscalling With a "real job" you are reffering to what is stablished in industry at the moment. Universities were made to transmit and develop knowledge, that may be used for creating your own way of doing things. You don't necessarily need to learn how to use the exact same softwares that industry uses, you can also choose by yourself the tools that you want to learn to develop what you are aiming for.
As an ME professor I completely agree with this video. We meet with industry regularly and discuss what skills industry is looking for. Communication and 'soft skills' are almost always the first thing that industry professionals are looking for. I recommend to my students that when they go into an interview have three group engineering projects you were involved in that you can talk about. (No more, no less) Be prepared to talk about what specifically you worked on in the project, what you added to the team, and how were conflicts within the team resolved. Also be prepared to discuss how compromises were made between competing requirements. The interviewer will be looking for several things: 1) How excited are you when you talk about the project? Do you come across as enjoying problem solving and being an engineer? 2) How well did you work as a team? 3) How well do you communicate the requirements and issues that arose for the project to someone who was not directly involved with the project? Do you tailor the level of technical jargon you use appropriately to your audience? Where do you find these three projects if you don't have any work experience? Join your school's engineering club, dive deep into a senior capstone project, take full advantage of any major class project assigned. Does your mechatronics class have a final group project? How about an experimental design class? These class projects can be one or two of your three projects if you and your group put a good effort in, and are proud of your accomplishments.
@@WissamSeif - It is interesting that you chose that example as I covered how to size and select a pump in the Thermal Systems Design class I just finished instructing. This was the first time I instructed the class, which I took over for a professor who left. This class is a senior level design class that capstones student's earlier thermodynamic, fluid mechanic and heat transfer classes. The class covers things like pump sizing, selecting pipe sizes based on economic considerations and economic and environmental considerations in general in thermal fluid system design. But I did not design the course so I can't take credit for pushing for pump and pipe sizing being included in our curriculum. The course is only required for students who have chosen a 'fluid thermal' track which is my area. Students have the option of this track, a robotics and controls track and I believe one other track. If you had chosen an example from mechatronics, for example, that you felt every graduate with a bachelors in ME should know, I couldn't promise that our department includes that topic in our curriculum. Since I don't instruct those classes.
I went right into the industry and used the time during my bachelors to work at different companies. This helped me way more than what university could offer - You know people at companies that can vouch for you which is huge, you know how certain things in the industry work and you get a feeling for what you enjoy! Also you get to experience different working environments and it can be way more competitive than at the university. There's a TON that universities can and do offer and many things have to be discovered and utilised by the students who have to take the initiative but some things can be experienced better in an actual company working environment. I noticed a lot of the students would work at a supermarket or so (which isn't a bad thing in itself) but they never got the idea that they could look for work in their field and sadly no one ever really seems to tell them about the possibility of earning money while earning experience I say that because you too suggested primiarily class projects and the idea of working in the field at a company might be something your students could profit from as well.
What is lacking with Mechanical Engineers today, is the knowledge of how to design mechanisms correctly. Did know that there's a mathematical formula that can be used for all mechanism designs? It's called Gruebler's Count. I found a way to make it practical for all 3D mechanisms. Here's the link if you are interested. czcams.com/video/KFB8gMjxDPk/video.html
Hai Amber! I'm also a mece and got my first internship at the end of my junior year. It was a virtual internship and during the interview I fan girled about my engineering club to them. I only worked one day a week but as it was my first internship its ok since I just need to get a job first and then more job opportunities come after. Joining clubs also help build experience and you can do online courses (like coursera etc) to get more skills outside of mece. The first internship is always the hardest to get but once you get it, you're good to go! Try applying for virtual internships from small companies. I applied through my college's job board and that's how I got it. Best of luck to you! I'm also a senior mece now and in my last sem! Praying for us all 🙏
Depending on what you want to do, doing a job like working in a machine shop could offer similar benefits as having an internship. You learn a lot of hands on skills and engineers seem to really want that in applicants. Idk if this applies to internships but as a early career ME, I've had a lot of success applying to jobs through Craigslist. It seems as though craigslist jobs have less applicants and you're more likely to get your resume in front of an actual human.
I grew up working on farms. I learned how to do everything while i was going to high school. I think of it as military training without the weapons parts. Also while there is alot of hard physical work, there is alot of sittin on a tractor work where you get to daydream all day and get paid for it. Working on a farm in the spring summer and fall being out in the weather, was like a paid vacation for me. i was into electronics computers and robots at the time. so i would think up sht to do thru the day, go home and do it at night. i went to uni but dropped out after 2 n 1/2 yrs and became a cnc machinist which is another whole world of fun btw !
I live in Germany and I left my university (mechanical engineering bachelor) after 4 semesters due to family issues and a 2 hour one way commute. I started mechanical engineering again at a different but also high reputation university and because I could have so many subjects accredited I started working as well. Having 3 years of working experience in the field by the time I had my bachelors degree and over 4 years near the end of my masters degree is a game changer! You know people at companies that can vouch for you which is huge, you know how certain things in the industry work and you get a feeling for what you enjoy! On the other hand I know people who were great and fast in their degrees but know nothing about work and struggle to find a job... My strenth lies in communication paired with deeper knowledge in meterial science and IT. That being said, I have a lot of shortcomings regarding electrical knowledge, simulation software and measurements. mechanical engineering is a field where you can't be good at everything but you need to focus on your strengths and try to find the path to what you enjoy most! - Which can be hard enough besides all the challenges that university throws at you...
@@WissamSeif But it's so necessary! It's key to presenting your personality - everyone has strengths and weaknesses and knowing what your good and not so good at can help you fokus and what you enjoy and actually get that job that fits your profile :) At least that's my take on things
fascinated by your two cents, it did change my perspective on things that i used to worry. Definitely gonna spread ur thoughts to my friends coz we use to overthink a lot in this mechanical field on our potential n capability. If that's okay with you :)
As a general rule, once you graduate from college, you’re a freshman again. A lot of the raw Mathematical skills you get while in school provide insight to problems you may solve, but will more than likely end up being solved by programs of various types. Also, this is a weird one, but build lego sets or find some kind of instruction-based activity to eat up some of your free time. A lot of low level engineering jobs (especially mechanical) will end up spending lots of time reading /skimming instruction manuals & familiarizing yourself with existing systems to catch up with the M.O. that everyone else is used to.
I have no problem going down to least to higher to the ladder. But I want to know how can I improve if I do not have internship experience ( I am looking for it) ?
From something my first internship supervisor told me “We’ve see your grades. We know we can teach you how to do whatever we need to. We just don’t know how hard you’re going to work and how well you’ll get along with anyone else.”
This helps a lot man. I’m currently studying BS in Mechanical engineering technology. I believe it’s better to go to college once you find the career you’re really passionate about. I’m passionate about being hands on especially with cars. Unlike many students, I went through life experience first. I’ve realized that I don’t wanna just be a mechanic forever. I wanna work at Honda Manufacturing someday as a quality engineer.
After earning 12 entry-level ASE's I found my passion in automotive and transportation. I never truly excelled in high school but I decided to take up the challenge that is obtaining a BS in MechE like you. I came out the gate way behind in prerequisites and plan on knocking them out asap. It's great to hear from someone in a similar situation coming from mechanical knowledge. I agree with you, I don't want to be a mechanic forever. Best of luck with your studies and I hope to work alongside you one day!
I'd say you did it right by figuring out first what you really want to do before attending college. I tried going without knowing and that killed my sense of purpose and direction and led to me dropping out. The better you can see your target, the better you can hit it.
I'm graduating with my BS in Mechanical Engineering this semester, and I agree so strongly! I had a co-op while in college, and it taught me so many things that I didn't expect. It was an industry that I wasn't enthusiastic about, but it gave me a chance to find a series of cross-discipline interests that kept me motivated! I was able to see where my soft skills were comparable or better than the people I was working with, and more importantly, those particular skills that I could improve. I also took a minor in Mechatronics because I was able to see where my interests laid, and I wanted to develop those programming and controls skills. They were some of the most interesting classes of my degree! If there's on extra thing I could suggest, find something that makes you stand out. In my resume for my co-op, I mentioned that I had built guitars and fixed amplifiers as a hobby, and when I later spoke to someone in hiring, they remembered that and said it was very impressive. When creating my complete portfolio for my job interviews, I included interesting projects from school as well as hobby projects, like the guitar. Not only did it make the interview more relaxed and relatable, as one of the interviews had an interest and we were able to have a short conversation where I could give him a tip to fix something on his amplifier, it made me different from all the other applicants. I'm sure it's not the only thing that got me the job, but it gave me a competitive edge by showing my unique hobby where technical skills are required and giving me an opportunity to show more personality.
Thanks for the advice Wissam. I am not an undergrad student, I am a diploma student of MechE. Instead of doing 11th and 12th grade I decided to do diploma just because it offers more practical knowledge. Though I am not as proficient as other 12th graders in maths but I know the applications of maths in engineering field and it's use. I will start my undergraduate this year. I know Python, C++ and CAD softwares, also done a project before starting the undergrad. Your videos help a lot. Once again thanks for making videos.
that is such a great start. I'm a hs senior and I'll be a ME major next year at The U of Minnesota, twincities. I know Inventor, Python and C++, Excel certified (lol it was so easy). I'm gaining most of my "relative exp" from my Robotics Club at school, but I do have my own engineering/design projects as well. Wissam made such a good point on the human skills. I think my school Robotics CLub is such a good example for feels on the job. You are assigned tasks that may or maynot be in subsequent with one another, therefore skills of communication for ideas, status updates, etc is crucial. Plus there are also design reviews as a team, working with mentors that are in the field and all. I definitely would join the Engineering Club next year because its literally FREE LEGIT EXPERIENCE!
@@joshuaramcharan9735 I got it from a 3 month Genesis Work Program at my school. I learned excel, get certified, learn python, almost got a better position but summer ended and I'm doing pseo senior year so I can't do the program anymore.
I’m a junior mech E who is currently struggling to find internships, but I’m glad that you mentioned clubs since I’m in my university’s solar car team getting great experience. I think I’ve solidified my desire to work in renewable energy.
I'm 10 years in. One thing I can also suggest is to keep learning! Take courses and keep advancing. Pursue additional licenses like C.E.T. and Professional Engineer. These licenses say more about you without you even saying a word.
As a recent graduate in ME from Duke, I can say that data science and electronics are quickly taking over the mechanical engineering space. Companies are now looking for optimization of mechanical properties in materials, or empirical models that represent the mechanical system. And traditional ME software familiarity (Matlab and Excel) is not enough anymore. LEARN C++ and Python!!!! It will heavily contribute to your success.
As an ME who just graduated June of 2021, and landed a job in August with no experience, presenting yourself and showing how your existing skills supplement your education is very important. I'm now at an amazing job with a fantastic company and i couldn't be happier.
As a just-graduated ME, man I wish I'd watched this video while I was still in college! I really did not take advantage of the opportunities my excellent university provided to gain valuable skills and experiences via coursework and clubs. Not trying to complain or write a sob story though, I really appreciate this video for helping me as I get into the right mindset and chart out my path to catch up and start my career!
Interesting. I'm 41, and heading back to school for mechanical engineering after ~25 years of automotive and fabrication work. It looks like this may help me a bit, but it'll still be a bit of an uphill battle getting into the field.
@@WissamSeif It's been a planned thing for about the last ten years, but I just haven't been able to make it happen. Nearly four years ago I was diagnosed with cancer, and despite being all clear now I still feel the aftereffects of the chemo and radiation pretty severely. It aged me ten years in a matter of months. I knew after this that I needed to get a bit more serious about getting out of the physical aspect of my field, but it wasn't until I ruptured a bicep earlier this year that I actually did something about making that move. I do get a lot of satisfaction from creating a solution to a problem, and being in mechanical engineering will allow me to stay within that general field while not having to work as much with the heavy physical aspect.
Wissam this is great! I did an undergrad program as a BME with 2 co-ops. I took on a mechanical engineer position each time for a medical imaging device company... i wish i did mech eng undergrad instead now after the fact, but what you say is VERY accurate. It is very valuable to get yourself hands-on experience (clubs, internships, etc.). The great thing about engineering is that if you apply yourself, you can land any job you want! great video man, keep it up
You can’t understate just simple charisma. Being good at talking to people, good at making people like you, good at speaking to people who AREN’T engineers is huge. It inherently separates you from a large group of people who… don’t usually have those skills
One thing I would like to ad is languages, as a Mechanical engineer in the third world country languages were the only way I managed to get a decent job with a great paycheck and lots of awesome experiences. I mean we were over 2000 people in my class and less than 10 were able to speak, write, read and listen in English fluidly enough to get a certificate and from those 10 only 4 were learning another language (deutsch mostly) by the last year, as far as I know we all landed very great and interesting jobs in the field BUT I think that the most important thing to have is the will to walk the extra mile, I mean every semester we had a month and two weeks for vacation but the first week after finishing the semester my university prepared many different "1 week" courses for different fields like, excell, welding, even from other fields like accounting or human relations FOR FREE and mostly were empty because everyone was so tired due to finals week. Since the first of my 10 semesters I took one, by the time I was doing my thesis I already learned so much beyond the regular courses.
This is good advice for any field. Simply Learning a new language expands the job market available to you. I recommend learning Arabic and Russian, they don’t seem to know a lot of English and they will have a lot of engineering jobs
From my short experience as a process engineer, soft skills were the most important skills to have. It’s kind of unfortunate that some of the engineers that I worked with that were extremely intelligent and innovative, ended up making less than the some of the engineers that spoke well in meetings.
If I were boss, I think I'd value technical prowess and ingenuity over communication skills. It just doesn't sound right to reward a smooth talker more than a worker who makes a greater contribution to the company's bottom line. But I'm not a smooth talker myself, so all of this confirms that I shouldn't pursue engineering whatsoever.
@@ruleaus7664 you don’t need to be a smooth talker, just be able to deliver information effectively..honestly the ppl with really good soft skills are just looking to move up into management so that’s why they focused on developing their speaking skills..you should definitely pursue engineering, it’s a really rewarding career
@@danielbigelow2193 I can do that, but I'm also introverted and prefer to work alone most of the time. Engineering sounds too collaborative for me. I also imagine working on the same project for a long time, which might get boring.
@@ruleaus7664 I would say that most engineers are introverts..my original comment was just stating that people with really good soft skills seemed to make more because they would be leading groups or teams..this doesn’t mean that the other engineers didn’t make good money or weren’t valued in the company..but yeah I’m not a fan of repetitious jobs either lol there a bunch of diff engineering jobs though
Totally enjoyed this video.. I'm a mechanical engineering graduate.. started with AutoCAD but now use Solidworks... will like to learn some programming skills as well.. 👍👍
@@radazeonv8821 It depends on what part of the industry. I've worked in Product Design, Manufacturing Plant Engineering for Pharma, and as an Industrial Automation Engineer with a BSME. For Product Design SolidWorks is the best, especially the simulation portion. For Manufacturing Plant Engineering (which is the on-site engineer that designs and fixes things and coordinates with outside engineer groups for large projects) we used AutoCAD a lot. Anything construction related uses AutoCAD and/or Revit. For Industrial Automation Engineering we use a lot of AutoCAD BUT we have what are called 'drafters' that are not engineers but convert quick hand drawings to AutoCAD drawings so the engineers can focus on more important design tasks. Some of my friends have gone into Aerospace as well and they've mentioned they've used a lot of Catia. Some food for thought as well, especially on AutoCAD: 1. There are different toolsets: Electrical, Plant3D, Architectural, Mechanical, etc.. that make it easier for that trade to complete drawings and each are little different than based AutoCAD 2. I think if you can read drawings and understand what they are saying is much more important than knowing how to use AutoCAD for Manufacturing Plant Engineering and Industrial Automation Engineering or SolidWorks for Product Design. Once it gets to simulation and FEA I've not nearly as much experience.
@@radazeonv8821 I'm tempted to say yes because knowledge of it is a popular requirement for more job listing in the United States.. It combines a lot more than drafting modelling and simulation features in the same software package plus knowledge of it will help you understand other applications should the need arise.
My only push back would be learning Python for the programming part. Although it is popular it isn’t appropriate for embedded systems. The language you should be learning above all else is C++. I am coming from the lens of a Software Engineer who has a degree in Computer Engineering and work in the robotics industry. Over my 20 year career I’ve seen too many young engineers come in without understanding the fundamentals of performance engineering and the thing they all seem to have in common is Python. Just my two cents.
Just scrolling through and then saw this. The advice and guidance needed. No professors or other professionals made it clear what we guys needed in more specific like this, excepting the attitude and communication part. Thank you sir. Indeed you are a saviour. ❤️✨
I just started my bachelors in applied engineering, thanks for the good videos, I remember in high school I kept searching up more about engineering but nothing, then I found your channel and you made the videos that I needed to see to make up my mind. Peace and love my guy ✌️💕
Videos like this reminds me how different is the world. It heavily depends on where in the world you study and work and in what type of company. Most of the things you have said don't apply for my case. For example, my employer wasn't so interested in my skills or experience because simply there aren't enough candidates for this positions in my country and in the same time the company is rapidly growing. There's juts not enough people and employers tend to risk
I loved engineering, I was a Chem E, unfortunately the job market just isn’t there, I ended up going back to school for nursing and got into an anesthesia program a few years later. While the pay is much better, I still miss engineering somewhat even though I know I’ll never go back due to financial reasons. I’ll say to anyone dissatisfied in their career or struggle with employment, with a stem background, you’ll be a shoe in for medicine. I’d say nursing to nurse anesthetist is a much faster route to a great living than attending medical school though. But I hope anyone choosing engineering goes in fully informed.
Good video, I agree with everything you said. Just to add.. I've been in mechanical engineering and involved with hiring for the past 10+ years.. the one skill that a lot of engineer look past is having good GD&T fundamentals. It's pretty crazy how misunderstood and misused GD&T is in the industry.
@@WissamSeif For how necessary it is in design, manufacturing, and quality, it's always seemed crazy to me how rarely it's discussed in college. The one mechanical engineering certification that actually holds weight is the ASME GDTP Senior Exam.
Mechanical Engineering is completely different to time,when I studied it in the 1960’s.In those days,I studied all the Subjects,including Electrical Engineering as one of them.I also completed an Apprenticeship,with my Academic Studies. I agree in what was shown in the Video.Nowadays,you need those Technical and Professional Skills.I am sure,they will change in the future.
I don't know if you'll see this Wissam but I really appreciate you man. Your advice in your videos have helped me snag an internship this upcoming summer. I'm currently pursuing my Master's and have a 3.83 GPA. The website for resume templates you provided definitely helped! Thanks brother!
I'm glad to understand all the things you said in this video, now I know a little bit more about what to do as a machanical enginieer. Greatings from México!
Really good video man. The little skit you put in was awesome. Something else you could have brought up is just networking with other people. I did a few years in the military working on jets and now I am back in college doing electrical and computer engineering stuff. The worst thing I find is how unwilling these younger guys are to just go out and talk with other people they work with or go to classes with. The amount of knowledge you can get is insane, not to mention, they may know opportunities that you can get into. I am already in an internship but I have had at least 3 times within a 4 month time span where people have asked if I want their recommendation for an opening they know about. I know you went in a bit into this topic but it might be helpful to do a deep dive.
Great work on the video! There is one more thing that is vital to Mechanical in particular. Hands on experience in equipments and machines. That’ll ramp up your reputation in meetings and technical discussions.
In terms of experience I'd also say Freelancing based on your skills. First three months you do pro bono (before or after graduation) say CAD in exchange for letters of recommendations and creating a project portfolio with the designs (if no NDA was signed), then you charge clients, create your own website and use it to apply for jobs. You stand out from the crowd, get a job quicker and may even negotiate a higher salary cause technically, you have your own business and a different mindset and a different level than a normal graduate. Also you can make your own money regardless of getting a job. Lots of pro engineers dont want to do grunt work.
@@WissamSeif Yes, especially during Covid I decided to freelance as I graduated at the start of the pandemic. During interviews I print out samples of work in color and add it as a portfolio, bind it along with my resume and other paper work (qualification, letters of recommendations, etc) and present it to the interviewer. Work as a sales engineer now and they offered me a salary higher than the initial salary.
@@maalikserebryakov Mostly HVAC and plumbing/piping. It actually helped me understand how to design according to design standards. I got requests from small to medium companies that needed drawings for government projects. Used programs like Revit and Inventor.
As someone who has been in the field for 4 years now. These are all good advice. Keeping organized and getting multiple projects done on time also sets you apart from the rest. I usually like to focus on one thing and hammer it out until it’s done but you can’t usually do that. Work until you hit a sticking point and switch gears to the other projects. Getting stuff done on budget or before timelines means a lot if you make it a pattern
I'm in Switzerland, I did an apprenticeship in sheet metal fabrication before starting my ME studies. Now I'm done with studies and I can show 10 years of experience in a real life work environment. It makes a big difference to employers especially because you're more refined. What I mean is that you've already been told off about bad habits, you've gotten feedback on bad social skills, you're been taught workplace safety, team work, basic manners, how to use some of the most basic tools. That stuff takes a while to polish out and if you can drop that load right out of your mandatory school years, you will be treated differently.
I agree and as a 56-year-old guy I can tell you to be ready to learn new systems at every company. I've only changed jobs 3 times in my career they all had different cad and cam systems as well as 3d printers. Excel is the only common software .
Still so sad at just how much raw technical stuff I've forgotten after like 6 years away from varsity. But it taught me how to learn things real fast and how to keep learning
An amazing video . Presently at my first year in BTech Mechanical engineering and aspiring to learn more and more about mechanical engineering and the skills required to be the best and learn from others. Thanks for the video man . Love from india 💜
I've been a mechanical engineer for nearly 2 years now. What worked for me was marketing myself as a specialist in a specific niche and applying to jobs that specifically looked for said specialty. For me it was "the guy who is a mechanical engineer who was a machinist that has really good hands-on skills and can communicate well with other machinists and/or manufacturers." If you are planning on starting a career you could do something similar, but with whatever thing you like/are good at. Also, here are a few tips: 1) It's ok to take a break from engineering school to go out and learn a trade like I did. Work experience in the trades is extremely valuable to employers looking to hire engineers, more so than any school project or internship. 2) Your degree is not the end all be all when it comes to starting an engineering career. Think of it as the cherry on top of your sundae of expertise. 3) Work on your appearance. It doesn't matter how good your resume looks if you look like a total dork. Nobody seems to acknowledge the fact that people won't take you seriously if you look like crap. Get in the gym and take care of yourself. Your physique can either be an asset that will make you that much more marketable, or a liability that can cost you a career.
One another tip.. Here in Germany we have a lot of hackers clubs where they also build hardware in their leisure time. Those guys have sometime more spirit in their hobby-projects than I saw in those duty-projects during my studies. Even you can learn there really good hands-on skills.
@@maneeshg5487 like a soccer club. A community where you meet people and work on engineering projects just for fun. You can also work on own stuff and use their tools and machines. Or you can join workshops to learn new skills. The membership is mostly quiet cheap like 20€. Sometimes you pay per use for some more expensive machines. They even introduce you on the machines, so you will not get hurt.
@@maneeshg5487 Imaging Steve Jobs and Wozniak in their Garage when they started apple. Sometimes in hackers club it’s the beginning of start up ideas. Even it’s not the goal of those clubs
Currently studying computer engineering my biggest two goals are being an aeronautical engineer. Learning aeronautical engineer and starting my own company in the automotive industry making cars. I always wanted to make cars so everything I'm learning from engineering will help me and my business.
I am just about to graduate with a BSME and this video is absolutely the truth. I will have to somewhat disagree with you on the knowledge base of the company bit. While valuable to know what you are getting into, not having many or any questions about the company is not a huge turn off that I have seen and experienced. But I do pick interviewers' brains on what the engineers do, what the engineering teams look like, and what the interaction is between engineer and fabricator as those elements matter to me. I do want to suggest this for everyone: If you have just started at your university of choice for engineering, the single best internship you can get is some job as an assembler or assistant on the shop floor at a local manufacturer. Especially a position where you may have to work off of drawings. It will be life changing and set you apart because of that. This made later internship hunting exceptionally easier and my view on manufacturing much more practical and rooted.
Great video I would say though that CFD is highly specialized and while it’s good to understand the basics you need at minimum a Masters degree focused in advanced fluid mechanics and a thesis on some form of CFD application to even hope to get a CFD job which are already incredibly rare and competitive.
Thanks for a great video! Your knowledge is super helpful and its hard to find this kind of insight elsewhere! this info is life changing on helping me and others make the correct career path decisions and the choices we make to get into these careers. Much appreciated sir.
Really great summary :) You should be voice for gov educational programmes to shape them accordingly to demand. Nowadays many of academia (maybe not private) is not really bonded with real life expectations. Thank you for spreading a common sense around "engineers" of the world :D All best !
For someone reason, this pop up in my recommendation, I don't have kind of mechanical background or degree. But man, this is a great video! Helps me alot, thanks!
One of thing that will stand u out as ME is EIT, get it preferably in your senior year right before u graduate or at the least right after your graduation. Because companies need EIT or PE on many of their projects. U may even get credits for EIT. Within the first few years of your employment, pass your PE examination. Also, If u have EIT or PE, employer does not doubt your qualifications and capabilities, they believe your resume is true and that u know your stuff.
I studied ME and now I work as a manufacturing engineer in aerospace. I don't use any of the shit I learned in school and have never had to program or do hand calculations. For some industries it's all about people skills and how you sell yourself and how well you can learn and conform to the company goals
Interesting to see so many in Academia (either professors or students). Makes sense given the topic and title. Something I would just throw out there is to broaden what you consider an engineer. Just like many other industries, I consider there to be Engineers by training and also by trade. For instance I've worked with machinists and technicians that have decades of experience - MAKE THESE GUYS YOUR FRIENDS. They may not have a lot of certifications, but they could easily be considered engineers by trade - they likely know more than a recent grad with nothing but a piece of paper.
For mechanical engineers only one thing matters make stuff in your school lab, your bedroom, your parents garage, whatever bring that in, your interview will change forever ! Good luck.
3:09 - _All tests require some sort of electric data acquisition system. In my experience it's usually been the mechies that have set those up._ That's a job for an embedded hardware/firmware engineer, not a mechanical engineer! As an embedded hardware/firmware engineer myself, I've had to fix way to many DIY Arduino projects build by mechanical engineers. Things are often done so badly, I've to restart from scratch. This makes my job inherently unpleasant, as I'm the one who has to convince and explain management why I can't build further upon some unprofessional piece of garbage. Please do what you're trained for, or educate yourself before doing something new! Arduino's & RPI's are for educational or prototyping purposes only, don't use them in professional setups that run 24/7!
In addition! - CSV files and Excel are no valid replacement to a database! Don't use it as one!!! - Setup an InfluxDB for time series data, use an SQL database for anything else. - Never use an SQL database on an RPI with SD-card, it's going to end badly!
@@WissamSeif Perfectly reasonable if it's a small company. If the company happens to hire an hardware engineer, maybe back up his claims about "restarting from scratch" when he's discussing it with management. Most common reason to restart from scratch is the annoying Arduino IDE and lack of modular code. I would recommend to: - Use platformIO + VScode - Use a FreeRTOS library - Learn about classes and modular code I've been in heated discussions in the past with management, them forcing me to continue building upon a single class Arduino project of +5000 lines of code... The horror :-/
I got all my ME Internships and my current job by the soft skills that I had. I did bee keeping in college and that always interested employers into a long conversation which somehow lead into my passion for engineering as well.
Good Video. Somehow, I made it into an engineering related field on visual communications experience. Basically, I know very little about engineering concepts. However, this is very interesting, yet eye opening. 🤞
Great video man, graduating soon and starting on the job hunt. I'll definitely be using your advice and I'll definitely review my resume based off your other vid haha
I have a BSME and am a PE. I have worked in Aerospace Engine Test and there the checklist was important. I have worked in Aerospace Engine Design and there materials and failure modes was important. I have worked in Structural Design and there the design standards and building codes were important . Details are important.
As a Chem E All these same skills apply. Communication is a critical skill not worked enough in school. It does not matter what you know if you can not communicate it so some one else. It's the first thing I look for when interviewing any type of engineer. And be flexible take on roles that your degree is not classically designed for. Learn material science, electronics don't define your career by your degree type. I have seen many Engineers of different disciplines working in roles targeted to degrees that they do no have.
I think communication and interpersonal skills are a big deal for engineers to learn. I say this all the time in interviews, but so many of my peers in class seemed like geniuses when it came to understanding the material. But when they had to work in a group or even just explain their steps to obtaining a solution they fell apart. Working in this field has taught me that communication/professionalism is more important than being the quickest to understand a concept in the classroom. It seems to me that the difference between the engineer doing most of the busy work and the one that advances in the company or elsewhere is the one who can effectively communicate and lead people.
Yeah but don’t get on a wrong pass here: you won’t get hired for your social skills. You get hired to make money and as an engineer this will be accomplished by your technical skills. It’s not necessary for everyone to understand it (some people don’t get it). It’s important a few people get it and make things happen
@@stevenscalling you're right, I just think its something young engineers should work on. It opens up a lot of career paths. I'm more than capable with the technical stuff, I just in the future It will help me grow in a company or my own
Thank you for emphasizing the importance of communication skills, because you saved me from shooting myself in the foot. As someone who isn't all that sociable and prefers to work mostly alone, I can't invest in this career path. I'm going to have to go the computer science route instead, because that has occupations where this soft skill is at least less important.
When I read a resume that's full of corporate jargon like "actively synergized focused cross functional team groups..." I immediately know you were a coffee acquisition specialist
1) FEA and CFD
2) CAD
3) Programming
4) Instrumentation and electronics
5) Technical knowledge. ( Hand calc)
6) General softwares ( excel and matlab)
7) Experience ( join co ops in colleges or clubs)
8) Soft skills ( attitude, preparation, communication, writing)
Project management
Business management
Learn some Sketching too
All wrong! #1 is being hands on and able to build things yourself. Carpentry, machining, welding, etc. you need to be able to make things yourself before you can design and instruct others how to manufacture something. #2 is practical knowledge. You need to be able to make design decisions that are practical and realistic in the real world. Neither of these skills are taught in university which is why it is so rare to find a well rounded engineer with hands on and technical skills.
@@SuzukiKid400 I agree, part of me going back to college to pursue my ME degree is because I work in the Diesel Industry, typically on Mining, Forestry, and Construction equipment. And you'd be incredibly surprised how rare it is to find an engineer who followed these steps. I'm planning on working at my current full-time job all throughout college, and perhaps even after I graduate.
@@camd4648 similar situation right here!
I work in waste water treatment and am about to pursue an ME degree on the company's dime!
After I graduate, I will be hired on as a full time, dedicated engineer.
Feels like a secure path that many people could take advantage of if they work for larger companies
When I went to university in Germany most professors told us how big of an accomplishment it is to get your Bachelor degree done in 6 semesters (only 5% of students manage to do this and the rest needs more time because they fail courses).
So I went to an interview and was confident about my achievements and mentioned that I am a hard working and successfull student and you know what: The boss interrupted me because it was not important for him.
All he wanted to know about is in which projects I participated. This was an eye opener for me.
So in university we kind of lived in a bubble that did not match reality.
Go out in the industry, speak with the persons in companies that hire engineers and ask them what is importend to get a job and not your professors. Most of them never left university and had a "real" job.
As a professor I agree that your professor in Germany gave you terrible advice. I tell my students that grades are 'kind of' important but not as much as they likely think they are. Hiring managers don't really care that much if you are a B or a B+ or even an A student. They may not care if you are a C student. But at most your grades will get you an interview. They won't get you a job.
I recommend to my students that when they go into an interview have three group engineering projects you were involved in that you can talk about. (No more, no less) Be prepared to talk about what specifically you worked on in the project, what you added to the team, and how were conflicts within the team resolved. Also be prepared to discuss how compromises were made between competing requirements. The interviewer will be looking for several things: 1) How excited are you when you talk about the project? Do you come across as enjoying problem solving and being an engineer? 2) How well did you work as a team? 3) How well do you communicate the requirements and issues that arose for the project to someone who was not directly involved with the project? Do you tailor the level of technical jargon you use appropriately to your audience?
The program I teach for is very project oriented. Particularly during the senior year. We try to make sure that even if a student only participates in their required senior capstone project and class projects that they will save projects to discuss in an interview. But I also tell students that if they need to make a choice between being a straight A student, or joining the Engineering Club and being a B- student because of the loss of in class academic focus, join the engineering club.
Yes you live in a bubble if you only listened to your university teachers - but to be fair they didn’t know better because they never really did „real“ work.
Everyone after graduation who worked a few years will tell you how naiv he has been and every new student is.
So true….in any part of the world..
@@stevenscalling With a "real job" you are reffering to what is stablished in industry at the moment. Universities were made to transmit and develop knowledge, that may be used for creating your own way of doing things. You don't necessarily need to learn how to use the exact same softwares that industry uses, you can also choose by yourself the tools that you want to learn to develop what you are aiming for.
@@qui.que.10 just s simple question? Are you (still) studying or do you work in engineering?
As an ME professor I completely agree with this video. We meet with industry regularly and discuss what skills industry is looking for. Communication and 'soft skills' are almost always the first thing that industry professionals are looking for.
I recommend to my students that when they go into an interview have three group engineering projects you were involved in that you can talk about. (No more, no less) Be prepared to talk about what specifically you worked on in the project, what you added to the team, and how were conflicts within the team resolved. Also be prepared to discuss how compromises were made between competing requirements. The interviewer will be looking for several things: 1) How excited are you when you talk about the project? Do you come across as enjoying problem solving and being an engineer? 2) How well did you work as a team? 3) How well do you communicate the requirements and issues that arose for the project to someone who was not directly involved with the project? Do you tailor the level of technical jargon you use appropriately to your audience?
Where do you find these three projects if you don't have any work experience? Join your school's engineering club, dive deep into a senior capstone project, take full advantage of any major class project assigned. Does your mechatronics class have a final group project? How about an experimental design class? These class projects can be one or two of your three projects if you and your group put a good effort in, and are proud of your accomplishments.
@@WissamSeif - It is interesting that you chose that example as I covered how to size and select a pump in the Thermal Systems Design class I just finished instructing. This was the first time I instructed the class, which I took over for a professor who left. This class is a senior level design class that capstones student's earlier thermodynamic, fluid mechanic and heat transfer classes. The class covers things like pump sizing, selecting pipe sizes based on economic considerations and economic and environmental considerations in general in thermal fluid system design.
But I did not design the course so I can't take credit for pushing for pump and pipe sizing being included in our curriculum. The course is only required for students who have chosen a 'fluid thermal' track which is my area. Students have the option of this track, a robotics and controls track and I believe one other track. If you had chosen an example from mechatronics, for example, that you felt every graduate with a bachelors in ME should know, I couldn't promise that our department includes that topic in our curriculum. Since I don't instruct those classes.
I went right into the industry and used the time during my bachelors to work at different companies. This helped me way more than what university could offer - You know people at companies that can vouch for you which is huge, you know how certain things in the industry work and you get a feeling for what you enjoy! Also you get to experience different working environments and it can be way more competitive than at the university.
There's a TON that universities can and do offer and many things have to be discovered and utilised by the students who have to take the initiative but some things can be experienced better in an actual company working environment. I noticed a lot of the students would work at a supermarket or so (which isn't a bad thing in itself) but they never got the idea that they could look for work in their field and sadly no one ever really seems to tell them about the possibility of earning money while earning experience
I say that because you too suggested primiarily class projects and the idea of working in the field at a company might be something your students could profit from as well.
What is lacking with Mechanical Engineers today, is the knowledge of how to design mechanisms correctly. Did know that there's a mathematical formula that can be used for all mechanism designs? It's called Gruebler's Count. I found a way to make it practical for all 3D mechanisms. Here's the link if you are interested. czcams.com/video/KFB8gMjxDPk/video.html
They just want a skivvie to do data entry more like.
a*
Currently a junior mech e freaking out about internships and limited experience 😅 thank u for this video
Me too
Glad i seen this. I’m in my last semester as an ME. Just stay patient and trust God. It will all come in due time. Don’t force anything!
Hai Amber! I'm also a mece and got my first internship at the end of my junior year. It was a virtual internship and during the interview I fan girled about my engineering club to them. I only worked one day a week but as it was my first internship its ok since I just need to get a job first and then more job opportunities come after. Joining clubs also help build experience and you can do online courses (like coursera etc) to get more skills outside of mece. The first internship is always the hardest to get but once you get it, you're good to go! Try applying for virtual internships from small companies. I applied through my college's job board and that's how I got it. Best of luck to you! I'm also a senior mece now and in my last sem! Praying for us all 🙏
@@ryanpippins8158 thank you for your great msg
Depending on what you want to do, doing a job like working in a machine shop could offer similar benefits as having an internship. You learn a lot of hands on skills and engineers seem to really want that in applicants. Idk if this applies to internships but as a early career ME, I've had a lot of success applying to jobs through Craigslist. It seems as though craigslist jobs have less applicants and you're more likely to get your resume in front of an actual human.
I grew up working on farms.
I learned how to do everything
while i was going to high school.
I think of it as military training
without the weapons parts.
Also while there is alot of hard physical work,
there is alot of sittin on a tractor work where
you get to daydream all day and get paid for it.
Working on a farm in the spring summer and fall
being out in the weather, was like a paid vacation for me.
i was into electronics computers and robots at the time.
so i would think up sht to do thru the day,
go home and do it at night.
i went to uni but dropped out after 2 n 1/2 yrs
and became a cnc machinist
which is another whole world of fun btw !
I am also CNC machinist please give some tips how to enhance my skills in CNC machining from India.
Poetic!
I live in Germany and I left my university (mechanical engineering bachelor) after 4 semesters due to family issues and a 2 hour one way commute. I started mechanical engineering again at a different but also high reputation university and because I could have so many subjects accredited I started working as well. Having 3 years of working experience in the field by the time I had my bachelors degree and over 4 years near the end of my masters degree is a game changer!
You know people at companies that can vouch for you which is huge, you know how certain things in the industry work and you get a feeling for what you enjoy! On the other hand I know people who were great and fast in their degrees but know nothing about work and struggle to find a job... My strenth lies in communication paired with deeper knowledge in meterial science and IT. That being said, I have a lot of shortcomings regarding electrical knowledge, simulation software and measurements. mechanical engineering is a field where you can't be good at everything but you need to focus on your strengths and try to find the path to what you enjoy most!
- Which can be hard enough besides all the challenges that university throws at you...
@@WissamSeif But it's so necessary! It's key to presenting your personality - everyone has strengths and weaknesses and knowing what your good and not so good at can help you fokus and what you enjoy and actually get that job that fits your profile :)
At least that's my take on things
fascinated by your two cents, it did change my perspective on things that i used to worry. Definitely gonna spread ur thoughts to my friends coz we use to overthink a lot in this mechanical field on our potential n capability. If that's okay with you :)
@@muhammadfirdauz2246 Sure! I'm happy if my thoughts are helpfull :)
RWTH Aachen? Haha
@@lmao1096 Munich ;)
As a general rule, once you graduate from college, you’re a freshman again. A lot of the raw Mathematical skills you get while in school provide insight to problems you may solve, but will more than likely end up being solved by programs of various types.
Also, this is a weird one, but build lego sets or find some kind of instruction-based activity to eat up some of your free time. A lot of low level engineering jobs (especially mechanical) will end up spending lots of time reading /skimming instruction manuals & familiarizing yourself with existing systems to catch up with the M.O. that everyone else is used to.
I have no problem going down to least to higher to the ladder. But I want to know how can I improve if I do not have internship experience ( I am looking for it) ?
From something my first internship supervisor told me
“We’ve see your grades. We know we can teach you how to do whatever we need to. We just don’t know how hard you’re going to work and how well you’ll get along with anyone else.”
This helps a lot man. I’m currently studying BS in Mechanical engineering technology. I believe it’s better to go to college once you find the career you’re really passionate about. I’m passionate about being hands on especially with cars. Unlike many students, I went through life experience first. I’ve realized that I don’t wanna just be a mechanic forever. I wanna work at Honda Manufacturing someday as a quality engineer.
You are studying bullshit
@@cuddlemuffin.9545 you know what it was kinda funny
After earning 12 entry-level ASE's I found my passion in automotive and transportation. I never truly excelled in high school but I decided to take up the challenge that is obtaining a BS in MechE like you. I came out the gate way behind in prerequisites and plan on knocking them out asap. It's great to hear from someone in a similar situation coming from mechanical knowledge. I agree with you, I don't want to be a mechanic forever. Best of luck with your studies and I hope to work alongside you one day!
I'd say you did it right by figuring out first what you really want to do before attending college. I tried going without knowing and that killed my sense of purpose and direction and led to me dropping out. The better you can see your target, the better you can hit it.
Most of the time you aren't going to be hands on, you'll just be sitting at a computer using CAD
As a mech engineer and someone who have been through all this, this is pretty solid advice, also accurate
I'm graduating with my BS in Mechanical Engineering this semester, and I agree so strongly! I had a co-op while in college, and it taught me so many things that I didn't expect. It was an industry that I wasn't enthusiastic about, but it gave me a chance to find a series of cross-discipline interests that kept me motivated! I was able to see where my soft skills were comparable or better than the people I was working with, and more importantly, those particular skills that I could improve.
I also took a minor in Mechatronics because I was able to see where my interests laid, and I wanted to develop those programming and controls skills. They were some of the most interesting classes of my degree!
If there's on extra thing I could suggest, find something that makes you stand out. In my resume for my co-op, I mentioned that I had built guitars and fixed amplifiers as a hobby, and when I later spoke to someone in hiring, they remembered that and said it was very impressive. When creating my complete portfolio for my job interviews, I included interesting projects from school as well as hobby projects, like the guitar. Not only did it make the interview more relaxed and relatable, as one of the interviews had an interest and we were able to have a short conversation where I could give him a tip to fix something on his amplifier, it made me different from all the other applicants. I'm sure it's not the only thing that got me the job, but it gave me a competitive edge by showing my unique hobby where technical skills are required and giving me an opportunity to show more personality.
As a recent Mechanical Engineering grad in my first full-time job, this is the most accurate and valuable advice I've seen on this topic
Thanks for the advice Wissam. I am not an undergrad student, I am a diploma student of MechE. Instead of doing 11th and 12th grade I decided to do diploma just because it offers more practical knowledge. Though I am not as proficient as other 12th graders in maths but I know the applications of maths in engineering field and it's use. I will start my undergraduate this year. I know Python, C++ and CAD softwares, also done a project before starting the undergrad. Your videos help a lot. Once again thanks for making videos.
that is such a great start. I'm a hs senior and I'll be a ME major next year at The U of Minnesota, twincities. I know Inventor, Python and C++, Excel certified (lol it was so easy). I'm gaining most of my "relative exp" from my Robotics Club at school, but I do have my own engineering/design projects as well. Wissam made such a good point on the human skills. I think my school Robotics CLub is such a good example for feels on the job. You are assigned tasks that may or maynot be in subsequent with one another, therefore skills of communication for ideas, status updates, etc is crucial. Plus there are also design reviews as a team, working with mentors that are in the field and all. I definitely would join the Engineering Club next year because its literally FREE LEGIT EXPERIENCE!
@@ThanhNguyen-fc5cz did you get excel certified online?
@@joshuaramcharan9735 I got it from a 3 month Genesis Work Program at my school. I learned excel, get certified, learn python, almost got a better position but summer ended and I'm doing pseo senior year so I can't do the program anymore.
@@ThanhNguyen-fc5cz did you go to nhcc by any chance?
I’m a junior mech E who is currently struggling to find internships, but I’m glad that you mentioned clubs since I’m in my university’s solar car team getting great experience. I think I’ve solidified my desire to work in renewable energy.
Hi
I'm 10 years in. One thing I can also suggest is to keep learning! Take courses and keep advancing. Pursue additional licenses like C.E.T. and Professional Engineer. These licenses say more about you without you even saying a word.
How does one get such certifications sir??
As a recent graduate in ME from Duke, I can say that data science and electronics are quickly taking over the mechanical engineering space. Companies are now looking for optimization of mechanical properties in materials, or empirical models that represent the mechanical system. And traditional ME software familiarity (Matlab and Excel) is not enough anymore. LEARN C++ and Python!!!! It will heavily contribute to your success.
As an ME who just graduated June of 2021, and landed a job in August with no experience, presenting yourself and showing how your existing skills supplement your education is very important. I'm now at an amazing job with a fantastic company and i couldn't be happier.
Salary?
Company
As a just-graduated ME, man I wish I'd watched this video while I was still in college! I really did not take advantage of the opportunities my excellent university provided to gain valuable skills and experiences via coursework and clubs. Not trying to complain or write a sob story though, I really appreciate this video for helping me as I get into the right mindset and chart out my path to catch up and start my career!
Interesting. I'm 41, and heading back to school for mechanical engineering after ~25 years of automotive and fabrication work. It looks like this may help me a bit, but it'll still be a bit of an uphill battle getting into the field.
@@WissamSeif It's been a planned thing for about the last ten years, but I just haven't been able to make it happen. Nearly four years ago I was diagnosed with cancer, and despite being all clear now I still feel the aftereffects of the chemo and radiation pretty severely. It aged me ten years in a matter of months.
I knew after this that I needed to get a bit more serious about getting out of the physical aspect of my field, but it wasn't until I ruptured a bicep earlier this year that I actually did something about making that move.
I do get a lot of satisfaction from creating a solution to a problem, and being in mechanical engineering will allow me to stay within that general field while not having to work as much with the heavy physical aspect.
@@WissamSeif Your obnoxiously late response is noted.
@@jaredkennedy6576 how has your mechE education been?
Wissam this is great! I did an undergrad program as a BME with 2 co-ops. I took on a mechanical engineer position each time for a medical imaging device company... i wish i did mech eng undergrad instead now after the fact, but what you say is VERY accurate.
It is very valuable to get yourself hands-on experience (clubs, internships, etc.). The great thing about engineering is that if you apply yourself, you can land any job you want! great video man, keep it up
@@WissamSeif yeah, I’ve been working full time for a year now and I started my master’s in mech eng this past fall.
You can’t understate just simple charisma. Being good at talking to people, good at making people like you, good at speaking to people who AREN’T engineers is huge. It inherently separates you from a large group of people who… don’t usually have those skills
One thing I would like to ad is languages, as a Mechanical engineer in the third world country languages were the only way I managed to get a decent job with a great paycheck and lots of awesome experiences. I mean we were over 2000 people in my class and less than 10 were able to speak, write, read and listen in English fluidly enough to get a certificate and from those 10 only 4 were learning another language (deutsch mostly) by the last year, as far as I know we all landed very great and interesting jobs in the field BUT I think that the most important thing to have is the will to walk the extra mile, I mean every semester we had a month and two weeks for vacation but the first week after finishing the semester my university prepared many different "1 week" courses for different fields like, excell, welding, even from other fields like accounting or human relations FOR FREE and mostly were empty because everyone was so tired due to finals week. Since the first of my 10 semesters I took one, by the time I was doing my thesis I already learned so much beyond the regular courses.
This is good advice for any field. Simply
Learning a new language expands the job market available to you.
I recommend learning Arabic and Russian, they don’t seem to know a lot of English and they will have a lot of engineering jobs
From my short experience as a process engineer, soft skills were the most important skills to have. It’s kind of unfortunate that some of the engineers that I worked with that were extremely intelligent and innovative, ended up making less than the some of the engineers that spoke well in meetings.
If I were boss, I think I'd value technical prowess and ingenuity over communication skills. It just doesn't sound right to reward a smooth talker more than a worker who makes a greater contribution to the company's bottom line. But I'm not a smooth talker myself, so all of this confirms that I shouldn't pursue engineering whatsoever.
@@ruleaus7664 you don’t need to be a smooth talker, just be able to deliver information effectively..honestly the ppl with really good soft skills are just looking to move up into management so that’s why they focused on developing their speaking skills..you should definitely pursue engineering, it’s a really rewarding career
@@danielbigelow2193 I can do that, but I'm also introverted and prefer to work alone most of the time. Engineering sounds too collaborative for me. I also imagine working on the same project for a long time, which might get boring.
@@ruleaus7664 I would say that most engineers are introverts..my original comment was just stating that people with really good soft skills seemed to make more because they would be leading groups or teams..this doesn’t mean that the other engineers didn’t make good money or weren’t valued in the company..but yeah I’m not a fan of repetitious jobs either lol there a bunch of diff engineering jobs though
You should try tell them to do their own engineering startup, they could actually get really rich if thats true
Totally enjoyed this video.. I'm a mechanical engineering graduate.. started with AutoCAD but now use Solidworks... will like to learn some programming skills as well.. 👍👍
Would you say the industry looks for those who are more Solidworks-fluent?
@@radazeonv8821 It depends on what part of the industry. I've worked in Product Design, Manufacturing Plant Engineering for Pharma, and as an Industrial Automation Engineer with a BSME.
For Product Design SolidWorks is the best, especially the simulation portion.
For Manufacturing Plant Engineering (which is the on-site engineer that designs and fixes things and coordinates with outside engineer groups for large projects) we used AutoCAD a lot. Anything construction related uses AutoCAD and/or Revit.
For Industrial Automation Engineering we use a lot of AutoCAD BUT we have what are called 'drafters' that are not engineers but convert quick hand drawings to AutoCAD drawings so the engineers can focus on more important design tasks.
Some of my friends have gone into Aerospace as well and they've mentioned they've used a lot of Catia.
Some food for thought as well, especially on AutoCAD:
1. There are different toolsets: Electrical, Plant3D, Architectural, Mechanical, etc.. that make it easier for that trade to complete drawings and each are little different than based AutoCAD
2. I think if you can read drawings and understand what they are saying is much more important than knowing how to use AutoCAD for Manufacturing Plant Engineering and Industrial Automation Engineering or SolidWorks for Product Design. Once it gets to simulation and FEA I've not nearly as much experience.
@@radazeonv8821 I'm tempted to say yes because knowledge of it is a popular requirement for more job listing in the United States..
It combines a lot more than drafting modelling and simulation features in the same software package plus knowledge of it will help you understand other applications should the need arise.
@@francisejieji565 Ahh, so like learning C/C++ that allows easier understand of the other languages.
@@zaqube5056 Thanks for the insight.👍
My only push back would be learning Python for the programming part. Although it is popular it isn’t appropriate for embedded systems. The language you should be learning above all else is C++. I am coming from the lens of a Software Engineer who has a degree in Computer Engineering and work in the robotics industry. Over my 20 year career I’ve seen too many young engineers come in without understanding the fundamentals of performance engineering and the thing they all seem to have in common is Python. Just my two cents.
Just scrolling through and then saw this. The advice and guidance needed. No professors or other professionals made it clear what we guys needed in more specific like this, excepting the attitude and communication part.
Thank you sir. Indeed you are a saviour. ❤️✨
Thank you so much. This is the only video needed by Mechanical Engineers.
I just started my bachelors in applied engineering, thanks for the good videos, I remember in high school I kept searching up more about engineering but nothing, then I found your channel and you made the videos that I needed to see to make up my mind. Peace and love my guy ✌️💕
Videos like this reminds me how different is the world. It heavily depends on where in the world you study and work and in what type of company. Most of the things you have said don't apply for my case. For example, my employer wasn't so interested in my skills or experience because simply there aren't enough candidates for this positions in my country and in the same time the company is rapidly growing. There's juts not enough people and employers tend to risk
thanks ellen, nice video
Everybody know what they need to learn but not easy to master all of these stuff.
I loved engineering, I was a Chem E, unfortunately the job market just isn’t there, I ended up going back to school for nursing and got into an anesthesia program a few years later. While the pay is much better, I still miss engineering somewhat even though I know I’ll never go back due to financial reasons. I’ll say to anyone dissatisfied in their career or struggle with employment, with a stem background, you’ll be a shoe in for medicine. I’d say nursing to nurse anesthetist is a much faster route to a great living than attending medical school though. But I hope anyone choosing engineering goes in fully informed.
Good video, I agree with everything you said. Just to add.. I've been in mechanical engineering and involved with hiring for the past 10+ years.. the one skill that a lot of engineer look past is having good GD&T fundamentals. It's pretty crazy how misunderstood and misused GD&T is in the industry.
@@WissamSeif For how necessary it is in design, manufacturing, and quality, it's always seemed crazy to me how rarely it's discussed in college.
The one mechanical engineering certification that actually holds weight is the ASME GDTP Senior Exam.
Mechanical Engineering is completely different to time,when I studied it in the 1960’s.In those days,I studied all the Subjects,including Electrical Engineering
as one of them.I also completed an Apprenticeship,with my Academic Studies.
I agree in what was shown in the Video.Nowadays,you need those Technical
and Professional Skills.I am sure,they will change in the future.
I don't know if you'll see this Wissam but I really appreciate you man. Your advice in your videos have helped me snag an internship this upcoming summer. I'm currently pursuing my Master's and have a 3.83 GPA. The website for resume templates you provided definitely helped! Thanks brother!
@@WissamSeif I’m pursuing Mechanical Engineering. I’m looking to go into the aerospace field especially since I live here in Houston
I'm glad to understand all the things you said in this video, now I know a little bit more about what to do as a machanical enginieer.
Greatings from México!
When in school CO-OP. Relevant work experience is very important in a job interview. Worth more than GPA. This is a great video.
Really good video man. The little skit you put in was awesome. Something else you could have brought up is just networking with other people. I did a few years in the military working on jets and now I am back in college doing electrical and computer engineering stuff. The worst thing I find is how unwilling these younger guys are to just go out and talk with other people they work with or go to classes with. The amount of knowledge you can get is insane, not to mention, they may know opportunities that you can get into. I am already in an internship but I have had at least 3 times within a 4 month time span where people have asked if I want their recommendation for an opening they know about. I know you went in a bit into this topic but it might be helpful to do a deep dive.
This is some of the great advice man, really love your work! I hope you have a good day!
Great work on the video!
There is one more thing that is vital to Mechanical in particular. Hands on experience in equipments and machines. That’ll ramp up your reputation in meetings and technical discussions.
In terms of experience I'd also say Freelancing based on your skills. First three months you do pro bono (before or after graduation) say CAD in exchange for letters of recommendations and creating a project portfolio with the designs (if no NDA was signed), then you charge clients, create your own website and use it to apply for jobs. You stand out from the crowd, get a job quicker and may even negotiate a higher salary cause technically, you have your own business and a different mindset and a different level than a normal graduate. Also you can make your own money regardless of getting a job. Lots of pro engineers dont want to do grunt work.
@@WissamSeif Yes, especially during Covid I decided to freelance as I graduated at the start of the pandemic. During interviews I print out samples of work in color and add it as a portfolio, bind it along with my resume and other paper work
(qualification, letters of recommendations, etc) and present it to the interviewer. Work as a sales engineer now and they offered me a salary higher than the initial salary.
Sounds Very interesting and useful
What kind of design requests did you deal
With. Also who from?
@@maalikserebryakov Mostly HVAC and plumbing/piping. It actually helped me understand how to design according to design standards. I got requests from small to medium companies that needed drawings for government projects. Used programs like Revit and Inventor.
Thank you for more information on mechanical engineering. Will keep on learning and practicing these skills towards my future career.
As someone who has been in the field for 4 years now. These are all good advice. Keeping organized and getting multiple projects done on time also sets you apart from the rest. I usually like to focus on one thing and hammer it out until it’s done but you can’t usually do that. Work until you hit a sticking point and switch gears to the other projects. Getting stuff done on budget or before timelines means a lot if you make it a pattern
I'm in Switzerland, I did an apprenticeship in sheet metal fabrication before starting my ME studies. Now I'm done with studies and I can show 10 years of experience in a real life work environment. It makes a big difference to employers especially because you're more refined. What I mean is that you've already been told off about bad habits, you've gotten feedback on bad social skills, you're been taught workplace safety, team work, basic manners, how to use some of the most basic tools. That stuff takes a while to polish out and if you can drop that load right out of your mandatory school years, you will be treated differently.
I agree and as a 56-year-old guy I can tell you to be ready to learn new systems at every company. I've only changed jobs 3 times in my career they all had different cad and cam systems as well as 3d printers. Excel is the only common software .
Thank you for these important tips :)
Still so sad at just how much raw technical stuff I've forgotten after like 6 years away from varsity. But it taught me how to learn things real fast and how to keep learning
As a chemical engineering student I like your videos and the topics that you mention :)
Amazing, informative video!! And impressive presentation of information! Your experience and thorough research clearly show!👍
An amazing video . Presently at my first year in BTech Mechanical engineering and aspiring to learn more and more about mechanical engineering and the skills required to be the best and learn from others. Thanks for the video man . Love from india 💜
I'm a 5th and Final year student doing a BEng in Mechanical Engineering. This really helps a lot man. Thanks
You're my new master, i am glad to see this video
The man and the legend! Love your content, bro 🙌🏽
I've been a mechanical engineer for nearly 2 years now. What worked for me was marketing myself as a specialist in a specific niche and applying to jobs that specifically looked for said specialty. For me it was "the guy who is a mechanical engineer who was a machinist that has really good hands-on skills and can communicate well with other machinists and/or manufacturers." If you are planning on starting a career you could do something similar, but with whatever thing you like/are good at.
Also, here are a few tips:
1) It's ok to take a break from engineering school to go out and learn a trade like I did. Work experience in the trades is extremely valuable to employers looking to hire engineers, more so than any school project or internship.
2) Your degree is not the end all be all when it comes to starting an engineering career. Think of it as the cherry on top of your sundae of expertise.
3) Work on your appearance. It doesn't matter how good your resume looks if you look like a total dork. Nobody seems to acknowledge the fact that people won't take you seriously if you look like crap. Get in the gym and take care of yourself. Your physique can either be an asset that will make you that much more marketable, or a liability that can cost you a career.
One another tip.. Here in Germany we have a lot of hackers clubs where they also build hardware in their leisure time. Those guys have sometime more spirit in their hobby-projects than I saw in those duty-projects during my studies. Even you can learn there really good hands-on skills.
Bro.. can u explain what hackers club is? I'm planning to do my masters in Germany and am interested in improving hands-on skills.
@@maneeshg5487 like a soccer club. A community where you meet people and work on engineering projects just for fun. You can also work on own stuff and use their tools and machines. Or you can join workshops to learn new skills. The membership is mostly quiet cheap like 20€. Sometimes you pay per use for some more expensive machines. They even introduce you on the machines, so you will not get hurt.
@@maneeshg5487 Imaging Steve Jobs and Wozniak in their Garage when they started apple. Sometimes in hackers club it’s the beginning of start up ideas. Even it’s not the goal of those clubs
@@michaelw9762 Thank you for replying. These clubs associated with universities, right?
@@maneeshg5487 No. They are just existing on their own.
this is an eye opener, thank you!
Currently studying computer engineering my biggest two goals are being an aeronautical engineer. Learning aeronautical engineer and starting my own company in the automotive industry making cars. I always wanted to make cars so everything I'm learning from engineering will help me and my business.
I am just about to graduate with a BSME and this video is absolutely the truth. I will have to somewhat disagree with you on the knowledge base of the company bit. While valuable to know what you are getting into, not having many or any questions about the company is not a huge turn off that I have seen and experienced. But I do pick interviewers' brains on what the engineers do, what the engineering teams look like, and what the interaction is between engineer and fabricator as those elements matter to me.
I do want to suggest this for everyone: If you have just started at your university of choice for engineering, the single best internship you can get is some job as an assembler or assistant on the shop floor at a local manufacturer. Especially a position where you may have to work off of drawings. It will be life changing and set you apart because of that. This made later internship hunting exceptionally easier and my view on manufacturing much more practical and rooted.
My CZcams knows what I really need so this video popped up on my feed🤓 thankyou SIR
Thanks for create content related to mechanical engineer student/professional, it's complicated to find this info here on YT.
Great video I would say though that CFD is highly specialized and while it’s good to understand the basics you need at minimum a Masters degree focused in advanced fluid mechanics and a thesis on some form of CFD application to even hope to get a CFD job which are already incredibly rare and competitive.
Thanks for a great video! Your knowledge is super helpful and its hard to find this kind of insight elsewhere! this info is life changing on helping me and others make the correct career path decisions and the choices we make to get into these careers. Much appreciated sir.
statics, strength of materials, material compatibility, surfacing, gd&t, hand calculations in general, to name a few.
The number one piece of advice is you need to be flexible/able to move to where the work is.
Really great summary :)
You should be voice for gov educational programmes to shape them accordingly to demand. Nowadays many of academia (maybe not private) is not really bonded with real life expectations.
Thank you for spreading a common sense around "engineers" of the world :D
All best !
Happy New Year , great start to the year with a great video.Keep the content coming .
For someone reason, this pop up in my recommendation, I don't have kind of mechanical background or degree. But man, this is a great video! Helps me alot, thanks!
One of thing that will stand u out as ME is EIT, get it preferably in your senior year right before u graduate or at the least right after your graduation.
Because companies need EIT or PE on many of their projects.
U may even get credits for EIT.
Within the first few years of your employment, pass your PE examination.
Also, If u have EIT or PE, employer does not doubt your qualifications and capabilities, they believe your resume is true and that u know your stuff.
Love the new set up!
I studied ME and now I work as a manufacturing engineer in aerospace. I don't use any of the shit I learned in school and have never had to program or do hand calculations. For some industries it's all about people skills and how you sell yourself and how well you can learn and conform to the company goals
@@WissamSeif I am a firefighter
Interesting to see so many in Academia (either professors or students). Makes sense given the topic and title. Something I would just throw out there is to broaden what you consider an engineer. Just like many other industries, I consider there to be Engineers by training and also by trade. For instance I've worked with machinists and technicians that have decades of experience - MAKE THESE GUYS YOUR FRIENDS. They may not have a lot of certifications, but they could easily be considered engineers by trade - they likely know more than a recent grad with nothing but a piece of paper.
For mechanical engineers only one thing matters make stuff in your school lab, your bedroom, your parents garage, whatever bring that in, your interview will change forever ! Good luck.
3:09 - _All tests require some sort of electric data acquisition system. In my experience it's usually been the mechies that have set those up._
That's a job for an embedded hardware/firmware engineer, not a mechanical engineer!
As an embedded hardware/firmware engineer myself, I've had to fix way to many DIY Arduino projects build by mechanical engineers. Things are often done so badly, I've to restart from scratch. This makes my job inherently unpleasant, as I'm the one who has to convince and explain management why I can't build further upon some unprofessional piece of garbage.
Please do what you're trained for, or educate yourself before doing something new! Arduino's & RPI's are for educational or prototyping purposes only, don't use them in professional setups that run 24/7!
In addition!
- CSV files and Excel are no valid replacement to a database! Don't use it as one!!!
- Setup an InfluxDB for time series data, use an SQL database for anything else.
- Never use an SQL database on an RPI with SD-card, it's going to end badly!
@@WissamSeif Perfectly reasonable if it's a small company.
If the company happens to hire an hardware engineer, maybe back up his claims about "restarting from scratch" when he's discussing it with management.
Most common reason to restart from scratch is the annoying Arduino IDE and lack of modular code. I would recommend to:
- Use platformIO + VScode
- Use a FreeRTOS library
- Learn about classes and modular code
I've been in heated discussions in the past with management, them forcing me to continue building upon a single class Arduino project of +5000 lines of code... The horror :-/
Love your videos man I recently got an internship with a small engineering company. Thank you for the info
I got all my ME Internships and my current job by the soft skills that I had. I did bee keeping in college and that always interested employers into a long conversation which somehow lead into my passion for engineering as well.
You should have posted this four years earlier! My degree is complete. and now I found out that I am completely useless!
You made me smile at the end of the video haha thank you so much
Very insightful video. Thank you
Great video. Thank you for the info! :)
I chuckled at the skit in the middle
Anyways, good video! It is short and to the point.
That's really helpful!
I'm glad that the video is still relevant, despite the continuously evolving AI
Hit the nail again!. Nice video
Always great advice over here!
Thanks for sharing. It's helpful.
Only skill i currently have is 'How to Send Emails"
thanks man, very informative
Great Video. Thanks for the tips
Good Video. Somehow, I made it into an engineering related field on visual communications experience. Basically, I know very little about engineering concepts. However, this is very interesting, yet eye opening. 🤞
Great video man, graduating soon and starting on the job hunt. I'll definitely be using your advice and I'll definitely review my resume based off your other vid haha
I have a BSME and am a PE. I have worked in Aerospace Engine Test and there the checklist was important. I have worked in Aerospace Engine Design and there materials and failure modes was important. I have worked in Structural Design and there the design standards and building codes were important . Details are important.
As a Chem E All these same skills apply. Communication is a critical skill not worked enough in school. It does not matter what you know if you can not communicate it so some one else. It's the first thing I look for when interviewing any type of engineer. And be flexible take on roles that your degree is not classically designed for. Learn material science, electronics don't define your career by your degree type. I have seen many Engineers of different disciplines working in roles targeted to degrees that they do no have.
5:40 "PREPERATION" spelled like a true engineer
this is a very good video, I agree 100%
I think communication and interpersonal skills are a big deal for engineers to learn. I say this all the time in interviews, but so many of my peers in class seemed like geniuses when it came to understanding the material. But when they had to work in a group or even just explain their steps to obtaining a solution they fell apart. Working in this field has taught me that communication/professionalism is more important than being the quickest to understand a concept in the classroom. It seems to me that the difference between the engineer doing most of the busy work and the one that advances in the company or elsewhere is the one who can effectively communicate and lead people.
Yeah but don’t get on a wrong pass here: you won’t get hired for your social skills. You get hired to make money and as an engineer this will be accomplished by your technical skills.
It’s not necessary for everyone to understand it (some people don’t get it). It’s important a few people get it and make things happen
@@stevenscalling you're right, I just think its something young engineers should work on. It opens up a lot of career paths. I'm more than capable with the technical stuff, I just in the future It will help me grow in a company or my own
Thank you for emphasizing the importance of communication skills, because you saved me from shooting myself in the foot. As someone who isn't all that sociable and prefers to work mostly alone, I can't invest in this career path. I'm going to have to go the computer science route instead, because that has occupations where this soft skill is at least less important.
@@ruleaus7664 exactly. We don’t get hired for being too social, we get hired for developing and creating stuff
How have I not thought of this yet? 😳
When I read a resume that's full of corporate jargon like "actively synergized focused cross functional team groups..." I immediately know you were a coffee acquisition specialist
It really depends on what you work for and who you work with , different companies might have different opinions and needs.
good video, thank you
I am a mechatronics engg and learning all these things currently
Boop great stuff! Cheers!